Meet the Tech Pioneers of 2011

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Sequencing a Genome

The first time Noah played muse was when, as an infant, he fell ill and had to be rushed to intensive care. Rothberg, who has spent his career working on high-speed DNA sequencing, suddenly realized in a personal way how vital understanding the human genome is to human health. He launched a company called 454 Life Sciences, which was named a 2007 Tech Pioneer and led the effort to sequence the first complete human genome—that of James D. Watson, the co-discover of DNA.

Noah, now 12, also prompted Rothberg to start Ion Torrent, when the son asked whether his father could invent a device that would read minds. Rothberg was provoked to consider how it would be possible to "see" biological and chemical information and transfer it quickly into the digital world of computers. The result is the Torrent chip, a semiconductor device that analyses genomes. It has the potential to greatly accelerate and democratize gene sequencing. "This is the century of biology," Rothberg says. "The decoding of DNA will affect all aspects of our lives, not just human health care."

The 21st century is also likely to be focused on energy and carbon dioxide emissions. More than a third of the 2001 Tech Pioneers are engaged in those issues, including two companies whose founders are two-time honorees. One of them, Stuart Evans, was recognized this year for his new startup Novacem, which has developed a "green" cement that actually absorbs CO2 during its production. Conventional cement, by contrast, releases enormous amounts of CO2 and is a major contributor to greenhouse gases. Evans was previously honored as a 2004 Tech Pioneer for Plastic Logic, a maker of flexible displays for lightweight e-readers.

Fistfuls of Patents

Then there is Mike Cheiky, who is rethinking batteries, fuel injectors, and fuel. He was behind ZPower, a 2009 Tech Pioneer that specializes in rechargeable silver-zinc batteries for mobile applications. His new company, honored as a 2011 Tech Pioneer, is Transconic Combustion. It has designed a fuel injection system that can improve the efficiency and economy of cars and trucks to help meet stringent emissions regulations.

Cheiky has started six companies with his wife Charity and has been awarded 35 patents in four major areas of technology, with another 10 pending. Although he still serves on Transonic's board, Cheiky has since moved on to yet another new venture, called CoolPlanet BioFuels. The Silicon Valley startup is developing what it says are carbon-negative fuels, based on plant photosynthesis, that absorb CO2 from the air and could someday replace gasoline.

Creating new companies is in the blood of WEF Tech Pioneers, so it's not surprising that a significant number of the winners are serial entrepreneurs. Among them: Dartmouth's Tillman Gerngross and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Dane Wittrup, two of the world's leading yeast biotechnologists. The two have teamed up to create 2011 Tech Pioneer Adimab, which has developed a yeast-based antibody discovery platform that can be used throughout the pharmaceutical industry. The technology promises to speed the development of new treatments for a whole range of diseases.

Gerngross, an Austrian native now living in the U.S., says he and Wittrup aren't looking to sell Adimab to a drug company. Current pharmaceutical and venture capital models often result in the best technologies ending up in the hands of a few pharma giants that are able to pay top dollar for the technology, limiting the impact on human health as a whole, Gerngross says. Adimab aims to change the face of antibody discovery for the entire industry, not just a single player, he says.

That's the kind of vision and ambition that causes dozens of entrepreneurs to rise every year into the ranks of Tech Pioneers. For a look at all this year's winners, see our slide show.

Jennifer L. Schenker is the founder and editor of Informilo, a European technology Web site and conference producer, and a former BusinessWeek correspondent in Paris.

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